Quaker Valley track team takes pride in showing at prestigious indoor state meet

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, March 10, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Five of the top athletes in the Quaker Valley track and field program displayed their resolve during the 2023-24 indoor season.

Senior Ellie Cain and juniors Jay Olawaiye, Davin “Macky” Gartley, Clark LaLomia and Thomas Debelak all advanced to the Tri-State Track Coaches Association indoor state championships Feb. 25 at Penn State.

“This is a very challenging meet as only 20 athletes (per event) across the entire state qualify,” QV coach Jared Jones said. “For indoor track and field, the state does not distinguish (between) Class 2A and 3A classifications. It is all one, which makes it very challenging for a small school like Quaker Valley. It was pretty special to send five athletes.

“Based on research, five is the most qualified athletes by any 2A school in the state. In addition to that, in the history of Quaker Valley, only two other athletes have ever competed in this meet.”

Olawaiye was the lone medalist among the QV quintet, placing fifth in the girls triple jump with a mark of 37 feet, 0.5 inch. She also is the first indoor track and field medalist at QV.

“Jay was our only indoor state qualifier last year. She ended up ninth overall in triple jump. In the outdoor season, Jay finished second overall in 2A,” Jones said. “We had very high expectations for Jay this indoor season. She started out strong with one of the top 10 marks in Pennsylvania in her first meet, but she plateaued until our final regular season meet at Youngstown State.

“Her performance at that meet bumped her up to the eighth-best jump in Pennsylvania going into the state championship meet. At the state meet, Jay was able to improve upon her success as a sophomore. We are very excited to see how she can improve in the spring.”

The 5-foot-6 Olawaiye made the biggest impact for the Quakers at the 2023 PIAA outdoor championships at Shippensburg, finishing as the girls 2A triple jump runner-up thanks to a leap of 37-7.

“I am completely blown away by my improvement since I’ve started triple jumping,” Olawaiye said. “I never thought I would make it this far with this event, and I feel genuinely proud of myself.”

Olawaiye also placed second in the triple jump at the 2023 WPIAL finals with a mark of 36-9.5.

Cain was a PIAA medalist last spring, taking seventh place in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:19.24. She finished ninth in 2022.

The QV senior placed 13th in the 800 at Penn State with a 2:22.06 time.

“Going into the indoor season, we knew Ellie had a chance to qualify for states in the 800, but we knew the competition would be close,” Jones said. “Early in the indoor season, we did not even want Ellie to run the 800 because we wanted her to be able to give her best effort near the end of the season.

“In our last two meets, Ellie ran the 800 with nearly identical times and with a season-best time of 2:19.66. We knew that time would be right on the border and that was the case as Ellie was the 20th seed in a field that accepted the top 20 athletes. Her performance at the state meet was impressive.”

Gartley, LaLomia and Debelak were state qualifiers for the QV boys team during the 2023 outdoor season in the 110 hurdles, 800 and triple jump, respectively.

Gartley had a near-medal winning performance at this year’s state indoor championships with an 8.32 time and 10th-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles.

LaLomia (1:57.29) ended up 15th in the 800, as did Debelak (42-5.5) in the triple jump.

“Davin was definitely the biggest darkhorse of this group,” Jones said. “Macky had never jumped over a hurdle until March of 2023. He picked it up very quickly and was able to qualify for outdoor states that same fall, finishing 20th overall in AA.

“This past fall and winter, I saw a whole new athlete. Macky’s determination to improve was second to none. Our coaches knew he was going to pop in indoor, but we wouldn’t have expected this in our wildest dreams.

“Macky finished first overall in the 60 hurdles in three of our four indoor meets. Headed into the state meet, Macky was our highest-­seeded athlete with the fifth-best time in the state.”

Gartley barely clipped the second-to-last hurdle in his preliminary race, which left him in ninth place, one spot out of qualifying for finals.

“Now, Macky is hungrier than ever for that outdoor season,” Jones said.

Going into the 2023 outdoor season, Lalomia had a good chance of qualifying for states in the 800 or 1,600. He excelled in both events, taking first in both at several different meets this season.

“At the end of the season, Clark was seeded ninth in the 800 and 12th in the 1,600. He elected to forgo the 1,600 to focus on the 800 at the indoor state championship meet. In the end, Clark had a good race and finished 15th in the state.”

Debelak started quickly in the indoor season and never took his foot off the pedal.

“Thomas was another athlete we knew had a realistic shot to qualify for states in the triple jump. His path was very similar to Jay’s,” Jones said. “In our first indoor meet of the season, Thomas had a solid mark that put him in the top 15 in the state. Nearly all of indoor, that mark kept him in the conversation to qualify, but he did not outperform himself.

“Going into our final regular season meet, Thomas was bumped out of the top 20 by a few inches. Thomas knew he would have to improve and did just that with one of the best jumps of his life.”

Jones was highly excited and enthused by Debelak’s effort.

“Thomas impresses me so much with his ability to take himself to a new level when the pressure is on,” he said. “It is extremely impressive and unique.

“At the state championship meet, Thomas was not able to outperform his jump from the week prior, but still did very well.”

Tags: Quaker Valley